


Oak Owen's Day Off

by PailetteHazel



Series: Chronicles of a Hopeful Few [5]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Before the Merrowport Mission Arc, Comedy, Gen, Other, Slice of Life, The Guild - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:47:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24858598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PailetteHazel/pseuds/PailetteHazel
Summary: Oak Owen, the head of the Guild of Newsprings, is a hardworking man. But when Delearys and Cornelius discover that his work keeps him apart from his partner Brooke, they come up with a solution: the party will take over his tasks for a day. Nothing can go wrong.. Right?
Relationships: Oak Owen/Brooke Owen
Series: Chronicles of a Hopeful Few [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1631809
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. A morning in Newsprings

It was an early morning in Newsprings. Not unlike so many other mornings, most adventurers of the Guild were either still asleep or in the process of waking up. 

There were two exceptions to this however. The first one was a paladin, whose habit it was to rise early and use the hours of first light for her weapon training. The second case was a rogue, who never seemed to sleep at all. He had returned to the Guild just in time to catch the tail end of his friends' training session. 

"Morning Delearys!" 

Delearys tensed for a moment and quickly turned. The windows behind her were the last place she would have expected someone to address her. But as soon as she saw the small figure climb inside, she chuckled. "Who else. Good morning Corn." 

The rogue grinned, and his glance went to the weapon Delearys was wielding. "Is that your fire bow?" "Blazing bow." Delearys corrected him. "But I am not inflaming it: I think Oak would not appreciate that." 

She tugged the bowstring and aimed it at the target again, tensing the muscles in her arms. Corn looked on in fascination. “Actually, Corn-“ The paladin motioned to the target. “Good you’re here. Could you give the target a swing, so I can practice aiming at something that's moving?” 

“Oh!” Cornelius jumped up. “Yes! Sure, I’ll do that. Don’t shoot yet!” He dashed to the target and pushed it, so it swung back and forth on the rope it was hanging on. “I would never.” Delearys smiled, relaxing her bow. 

As soon as Cornelius had ducked out of the way, she took position again. The arrow cut through the air and embedded itself into the target. “Almost!” Corn observed. “I’m not done, look out.” Delearys notified him before rapidly firing a few more arrows. 

The rogue let out a cheer when they mostly managed to hit the target. “You did amazing!” Delearys shrugged as she approached the target and fetched her arrows. “I still missed a few. It seems like I have to practice more to become a skilled archer.”

“You already are a skilled archer, though.” Cornelius tried to argue as Delearys finished and the two of them made their way downstairs. The paladin sighed.“I’d hit the target every time if I’d be as good as-“ She cut herself off. “Anyway. Hungry for breakfast?” 

———

The two party members entered the kitchen. To their surprise, it wasn’t empty: someone sat alone at the table, eating cereal. “Good morning Brooke!” Cornelius said, recognising their bosses’ partner. Brooke turned to them, showing a small smile. “A good morning to you both, too.” “What brings you to the Guild so early?” Delearys dived into the cupboards, in search for some cereal too. “You and Oak live down the street, correct?”

“Yeah..” The blonde enby said, taking another spoon of their breakfast. “Oak spends a lot of the nights here anyway. I went here early to see if he had time today, but.. he is busy. As always.” Corn frowned empathetically, as he slid next to Brooke at the table. “Awe, that sucks.” 

“Time for what?” Delearys sat down on the other side of Corn, with a cereal bowl of her own. “Well..” Brooke reached for his hand, and fidgeted with their ring a bit. “Today is our anniversary, and I thought-“ “whAt?” Cornelius jumped up, his hands on the table. “You mean Oak isn’t even free on his own anniversary!?” 

He turned to Delearys, who looked indignant as well. “We cannot let that happen.” She stated, and took another spoon of cereal. “I appreciate your offence, but Oak has to manage the Guild and everything surrounding it.” Brooke replied, a bit startled. 

“Then we will take care of that! For one day!” Cornelius said determined. “One day should be manageable.” Delearys added. “Oak does so much for the Guild, he deserves a free day.”

So it was decided, and Brooke was too grateful to really oppose the plan. Delearys and Corn woke up the rest of the party, and they found themselves in Oak’s office, where the supervisor of the Guild was compiling a list with tasks. 

The otherwise so stressed Oak seemed now almost excited, and kept throwing glances at his partner who beamed back at him. “Thank you so much.” He muttered, writing down the last things on the paper. “If there’s anything that you need help with, I will-“ “No way!” Cornelius interrupted him. “We will make sure that you and Brooke have the whole day for yourself, that was the deal!”

Sal seemed to have prepared for this day, as soon as Oak stood up the bard slid into his chair with a big grin on his face. “Have fun! We’ll take care of things.” Delearys promised Brooke with a hand on their shoulder, before Cornelius ushered the pair out of the room.

The party turned back to Sal, who already had his feet up on the desk and reading though the list of tasks. Delearys came up next to him, and shoved his feet off before looking over his shoulder. “Well?” She said to a offended looking Sal. “Read it out loud, so we can divide them.” 

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes, before clearing his throat. “Reading and answering of mail. Unpacking a new delivery of books and reorder the library. Give a tour for the representative. Order new weapons for the training room. Take care of general concerns of guild members.”

“And I-“ Cornelius pointed at himself. “Will have the task of making sure nothing disturbs the Owens!” “I don’t know if-“ Delearys started, but the rogue had already dashed out the office.“Okay.”

“The representative is from the Three Cities Council, right?” Faerryn said thoughtfully. “That’s right.” Delearys responded. “They want to see if they want to want to start Guilds in other big cities.” “I could do the tour, then.” The Water Genasi offered. “You said something about books?” Machelle spoke up. Sal grinned while looking at his paper. “That is correct. The new books are upstairs already, they just have to be sorted in with those already in the shelves.” The elven girl nodded excited. 

“I can do the mail.” Sal suggested. “My handwriting is nicer.” argued Delearys, who was still looking over his shoulder. “And I’ve had dozens of classes on political management.” “But I don’t know anything about weapons.” The bard proclaimed, smacking the paper to emphasize his point. 

At that moment there was a knock on the office’s door. “y’hello?” A deep voice sounded, and the party saw Jonathan Santa appear in the doorframe. “I heard Oak ‘n his spouse were out for the day. Good for them! If there’s anything I can help with, y’all can count on me, ‘kay?” 

“Actually, Jonathan-“ Delearys crossed her arms, and answered Sal’s dirty glare with a grin. “We might have something. As barbarian you know a lot about weapons, right?”


	2. Chapter 2

The party scattered to tend to their relative tasks. Even Sal had reluctantly joined Jonathan to the weapon blacksmith of Newsprings. The only one left in the office was Delearys, who started by organising the papers on the desk and then opening the letters addressed to the Guild. The paladin sat herself down and read through the lines quickly. There were thanks, offerings and finally, two requests for aid. Delearys thought for a moment, then took Oak’s quill and paper. 

———

Machelle had gone upstairs and entered her favorite section of the Guild: the library. As promised, there was already a large stack of books. Very large, actually- Mac couldn’t see how much, exactly. She huffed and resolutely took the first book to scan though it and see under which subject it should be filed away. 

———

Cornelius was doing what he does best: sneaking around in the shady corners and alleys of Newsprings. His talent for stealth allowed him to be unnoticed by Oak and Brooke- although, he doubted they would have noticed if he would have walked normally, because the two would not stop looking at each other. 

So far, operation Day Off was a huge success. The couple had gotten ice cream and were now walking to the south of the city, towards the lake. “Good. Very romantic choice.” Cornelius muttered happily under his breath. He glanced at the pair holding hands, turned over to a parallel alley and ran ahead, allowing him to scan the streets before the Owens would approach. 

The first few streets were empty and the Owens continued their conversation and their ice cream without problem. It wasn’t until the outskirts of the city that Cornelius noticed.. something, that could disturb the pair. A big rat, with dirt entangled in its fur, was scavenging through some garbage on the street. 

“Oh no, that’s not going to happen. Shoo!” Corn said, and ran towards the animal, trying to scare it away. But the rat seemed completely unimpressed by the rogue, and squeaked loudly as if trying to assert its dominance over the pile of rubbish.

“Go away!“ Cornelius swung his arms, trying to intimidate the street animal. The rat, however, started squeaking even louder and bared its teeth. Cornelius let out a shout and reached for his dagger as the dirty creature pounced at him.

———

It was dusty, dark and hot inside the weapon shop and blacksmith The Weapons of Mjord. Jonathan Santa didn’t seem to mind much however, as he looked at the displayed weapons on the wall in awe before greeting George, the dwarf manning the store, like an old friend. 

“Jonathan, old crook! Are you here to rid me of my finest axes again?” Jonathan laughed. “If you have something that's good, this time! The last axe I got here was as limp as a staw, I barely survived one mission with it- ” “Excuse me..” Sal intervened. “We are here on behalf of the Guild.” The bard glared quickly at Jonathan, then turned to George. “Oak Owen has a free day and we’re taking over his tasks.” 

George clacked empathically with his tongue. “Ah, I see. Oak’s a good fellow, I’m sure he’s glad he can leave it for a while. Now-” He thought for a moment. “For the Guild, I usually deliver a package of five dozen daggers, two dozen short swords, four spears and a staff. And then for the ranged stuff, a dozen bows and quivers.” A small grin appeared on the dwarven face. “But of course, I can add or switch some weapons out if you’d prefer-” 

Sal raked some of his hair behind his ear, glad it went so smoothly. “I don’t think that’ll be-” “Sal Devon Whatsjername.” Jonathan interrupted him, sounding almost offended. “It's clear you don’t have much experience with buying weapons.” He turned to George. “This old fox would gladly let us leave with the worst of his stock, am I wrong, you criminal?”

George lift his hands in surrender, but his widening grin showed that he was used to playing this game. “Selling bad quality weapons to the Guild, just because there’s someone new in charge of the order? My friend, I wouldn’t dare..” He tilted his head. “But if you insist, I can show you some of the wares, I have some of the same quality lying around and you can choose from there.”

Sal, who had hoped they would be able to leave the dim and dusty shop soon, lifted his hands to his face and let out a soft groan.  


———

Faerryn had made her way to one of the stables at the outskirts of Newsprings. Oak’s notes had said the representative would arrive somewhere around noon, and so the genasi was patiently waiting. At some point, a carriage arrived and out stepped an elven woman with a dark blue shawl and a bag slung over her shoulder. “Hello ma’am! Welcome to Newsprings, I’m from the Guild.” Faer greeted her. “My name is Faerryn, and it would be a pleasure to guide you around today.” 

A smile appeared around the woman’s lips. “Oh? That is wonderful. I’d assumed I had to walk there myself, but this is really hospitable.” Faerryn nodded, hoping it wouldn’t be too difficult to get a good review. “Just follow me, ma’am.” “Oh, you can call me Deborah.” The elf said. “I can’t wait to see your famous Guild.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Our village has been terrorised for weeks by a big reptilian monster, residing in the mountain ruins.” Delearys read through one of the letters addressed to the Guild. It was clear that this village located somewhere in the Hollow Rock Hills needed a team of adventurers to slay the beast and bring back peace to the village. She quickly wrote a reply and set it aside, so she would be able to send it later, as well as making a note so Oak could prepare a team for the mission. 

The next letter was a call for aid as well, but of a different kind: “The sea has been wild and many fisherman huts have been destroyed.” A village not far from Fogshore, on the northern coastline. Delearys thought for a moment. There was no immediate threat, so maybe it was a good idea to send them funds to rebuild instead? She wrote another letter, and sealed them as well. 

With a proud hum, she looked at the desk. It seemed to be more organised than ever. The only thing left was to go to the post office in town and send the letters on their way. 

———

Cornelius dodged the rodent trying to attack him, but lost his footing and slipt. The air was knocked out of him as he fell, and he was just quick enough to roll away from the sharp and probably infectious jaws of the rat, which snapped closed just behind him. 

“Don’t- Bad rat!” He scolded it, dodging again. “We don’t have to fight, just go! Ah! The rogue managed to slid out his dagger and use it to stop the nimble beast from jumping up again. The blade got caught in its tangled and messy fur, and the animal let out a high-pitched, hissing yelp as the sharp dagger sliced its side and blood spat out. The rat fell to the ground and a few convulsions later, the screeching stopped.

“Yuck.” Cornelius smeared away the spatters of blood on his face with the back of his hand, then looked up: he had lost some time with the fight, but luckily the Owen’s hadn’t arrived yet. The rogue quickly kicked some dirt over the rat corpse, was silent for a moment and made his way to the nearest roof again. 

———

Mac let out a sigh as she closed a book. Who knew the history of Heathwood was so interesting? She would definitely have to look more into it, apparently there was this whole thing with the traders versus the rulers of the city - As the elven girl looked up, she saw piles of books surrounding her, some of them sorted into piles but even more still on the big stack. She let out a soft groan, and put the book with the others about history. 

———

Delearys had just arrived back at the Guild as she saw an annoyed looking Sal and satisfied looking Jonathan in front of the staircase. “Hello there friends! How’d it go?” “It went great.” Jonathan said confidently. “I could do this every week if Oak asked me to.” “Yeah, thanks for your help.” Sal said quickly before taking Delearys with him into the office.

“Not.” He added as soon as he shut the door behind them. “Mark my words, I’m never stepping into another blacksmith again.” Delearys crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow as she leaned against the desk. “What?” Sal continued. “Jonathan js apparently friends with that guy who runs the place, and they insisted on trying and feeling and levelling every type of weapon that you can think of.”

He made a big gesture to emphasise his words and then counted on his fingers. “Clubs, sickles, boomerangs, slings and flails and glaives and pikes. I’m not sure if I will be able to ever look at my own daggers again without hearing the phrases “Finesse” or “Silvered.” Good grief.”

He turned to his friend again. “But enough about me. How did the mail go?” “It was a breeze.” Delearys said with a smile as she saw her party member’s face sour. “There were only two letters calling for aid, and I handled them efficiently. One party to a village near Fogshore to slay a dragon, and one donation to the Hollow Rocks for reparations.”

Now it was Sal’s turn to frown. “Fogshore? That’s up north right? Asuka had been on a mission there, or so they told. Slaying a sea serpent of some kind, the terrain isn’t really fit for dragons.” 

Delearys froze for a moment, retracing their words. “Did I say Fogshore? The Hollow Rocks is the one with the dragon problem.” A moment of silence as the realisation settled between the two. “By El Roé, have I switched the letters somehow?” Delearys cursed softly.


	4. Chapter 4

The door to the office opened and Delearys dashed out. Just in time to see Faerryn exit the kitchen with an elven woman in tow, who looked positively enchanted with the place. Sal, who followed behind the paladin, almost bumped into her: he quickly saw what was the matter. “The representative.” He muttered. “Act natural.” 

“And that concludes the tour!” Faerryn smiled. “As you can see Deborah, we have any kind of utility an adventurer could need, and the Guild makes it able to provide shelter and food as well as a place to train and study in peace.” The genasi turned around to face the other. “Well, what do you think?”

“I think it is wonderful, really interesting!” Deborah smiled. “And so kind of you to give me such an extensive tour, I really appreciate it.” She looked around. “Now, dear Faerryn, could you please tell me how I can join this incredible Guild?

“Join..the Guild?” Faerryn stammered, confused. “Do you want to know the process, for the review?” “What review? I’m just an ordinary adventurer.” The elven woman chuckled, and lifted her shawl to show the daggers on her belt. “And as you assured me during the tour, the Guild is a great place for people like me.”

Faerryn’s already light blue skin seemed to turn even paler, as the implications became clear. “But if you’re not the representative, where-“ The genasi was interrupted by a knock on the big wooden doors. Delearys seemed to awake from her trance and quickly went to open it, with Sal closely behind her. 

And there was an middle-aged human woman, with a strict expression on her face. “Is this the Guild of Newsprings?” She asked coldly. “It is! Welcome, ma’am.” Delearys let her into the main hall, almost professionally hiding her stress with a polite smile. “I know the carriage was late, but there was nobody from the Guild at the stable- I had to ask around in the city.” “I am terribly sorry, ma’am.” Delearys apologised. “We’ve had a pretty busy day here.” 

Behind her, Sal began grinning as if he’d just gotten an idea. He stepped in front of Delearys and with a small nod, he gestured around the room. “All of us are employed by the Guild. All except this wonderful lady here, who has arrived just today and will undoubtedly be able to tell you about her experience.” His arm pointed towards Deborah, who luckily seemed more than prepared to do just that.

The representative’s mood seemed to better a bit, and she had just approached the elven woman as the doors opened again: this time to the Owens. They both smiled and seemed more relaxed than they had been in ages. Oak noticed Delearys and Sal, as well as Faerryn who had joined the two, and nodded. “I cannot thank you enough. A free day was just what I needed.” 

“Did everything go well?” Brooke asked empathetically as he glanced over the three. “You seem tired.” 

“Don’t worry about us-“ Sal claimed. “We are fine!” “We’ll review later.” Delearys added, a little less confident. “Our tasks might not have gone as smoothly as they’d have with you in charge, Oak.”

———

At the end of the day, Oak gathered everyone in his office. This included Machelle, who promised she was done with the sorting and the small stack of books still in the corner were for personal use. It also included Cornelius, who had worried Delearys by entering with blood smeared over his face. After the rogue had assured her that he wasn’t hurt, she’d urged him to at least wash it off and make himself look presentable. 

Oak had taken his place behind his desk again, with Brooke standing behind him. “I have to be honest, I didn’t know how it would go without my presence, but you have done surprisingly well.” “Really?” Delearys asked, before being poked in the side by Sal. “Of course!” the bard quickly added. “We had everything under control.”

“How about the letters?” Delearys asked uncertain. “A very clever solution.” Oak remarked, pointed at the papers scattered across his desk once again. “Dragons are treasure-hoarders, so by sending a donation you ensured that the conflict in Hollow Rocks would be solved peacefully. Same with the rebuilding in that fishertowns village: You've shown that the Guild is not just a pest control service but also a general aid.”

“How about the representative from the Three Cities Council?” Faerryn asked. “They left with a very positive view of the Guild! At first she wasn’t sure, but after hearing the praises of an ordinary adventurer who had seen the best side of this establishment and its employees, they changed their mind.”

A sigh of relief went through the room. “All things considered- You did really well, and proved that you are responsible enough to take on the tasks I do.” Oak added, and a smile appeared around his lips as he glanced back to his spouse. “Brooke and I enjoyed it a lot: In fact, I think I might take days like these more often.”


End file.
